Even as Contractors Cut Headcount, 73% Still Plan to Hire, Survey Finds
More construction firms cut headcount than expanded it during the past year, the first time that has happened since the pandemic, yet contractors still face widespread shortages of qualified workers and overwhelmingly expect to add staff, according to a new AGC-NCCER workforce survey covered by ENR.
The survey, conducted in July and August, drew responses from 1,830 people representing firms of varying sizes and market sectors. About 87 percent reported openings for hourly craft workers and 82 percent for salaried positions, with nearly nine in ten firms saying those openings are as hard or harder to fill than a year ago. Project managers and supervisors followed closely, with 74 percent of firms reporting difficulty filling those roles.
“The need for people to work on new data centers is keeping labour conditions tight even as demand for many other types of projects remains relatively soft,” said Ken Simonson, the Associated General Contractors of America’s chief economist, during a virtual media briefing. “Meanwhile, the nation is not producing enough qualified workers, even as federal immigration policies are impacting nearly one-third of firms.”
The problem increasingly extends beyond recruitment into retention. “We still can’t find enough, so we better figure out how to keep what we get,” said Boyd Worsham, president and CEO of NCCER. Mindy Bates, human resources director at a Valdosta, Georgia-based electrical contractor, said her firm has netted more than 500 employees this year but had to hire about 700 because of turnover. “You cannot hire your way out of this situation,” Bates said.
Holder Construction senior manager Aja Gower said contractors ultimately have to convert today’s entry-level recruits into the experienced workers the industry lacks.
Data center construction is intensifying competition for skilled labour in some markets, with about 28 percent of survey respondents reporting they performed data center work during the past year.
What It Means for Subcontractors
The survey underscores a two-track labour market: overall project volume has softened enough that headcount is shrinking at more firms than it’s growing, yet skilled craft and supervisory roles remain as hard to fill as ever, largely because of data center demand and elevated turnover. Subcontractors bidding data center or adjacent industrial work should expect wage and retention pressure to stay elevated even if their broader project backlog cools, and should budget for the true hiring cost, including turnover-driven overhiring, rather than headline headcount targets alone.
